This November will mark the 25th year of the American Indian Heritage Celebrationat the North Carolina Museum of History. The state’s featured event for recognizing National American Indian Heritage Month will be held as a virtual experience this year on Friday, November 20, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and Saturday, November 21, from 11 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Named a “Top 20 Event” by the Southeast Tourism Society for the past five years, artists, performers, scholars, historians, and other representatives from North Carolina’s eight state-recognized tribes and four Urban Indian Organizations will share their skills, knowledge, and cultural heritage over this two-day virtual event. All interactive sessions are free but require advance registration.

To ensure the safety of our guests, staff, and presenters, this year’s annual festival will be held entirely online. However, that does not mean the interactive activities have stopped! Engage with live-streamed events that include performances, panel discussions, and demonstrations from the safety and comfort of your home or classroom. Watch on-demand videos any time. A special celebratory video to mark the museum’s 25th anniversary of this community event is also available.

“While this year will look and feel different as an all virtual experience, we will have the same sense of community, of honoring traditions, and of highlighting the contributions of American Indians that this celebration has embodied for the last 25 years,” says Alyson Vuley, Community Programs and Festivals Coordinator for the North Carolina Museum of History.

Registration is required for all live sessions of the Celebration. While the music and dancing performances have unlimited attendance, participant spots are limited for most sessions. Be sure to sign up today!

Highlights of the festival:

• Listen to traditional folktales that resonate today.
• Enjoy performances by North Carolina’s American Indian dance and drum groups.
• Learn languages spoken by American Indians in North Carolina, including Tutelo-Saponi and Cherokee.
• Learn details about regalia and the histories and traditions behind this special ceremonial clothing.
• Watch as artists and craftspeople demonstrate their skills—weapon making, quilting, basket weaving, pottery, beading, and jewelry making—and hear the traditions and stories that inspire these talented individuals.
• Follow along with guided videos as you learn how to create your own elderberry syrup or how to dye fabric with food-based colorings.
• Join interactive discussions on topics such as environmental change or COVID-19’s effects on Native communities; and join a healing talking circle led by the founding director of Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation Tribal Health Circle.

For a fun, educational, and safe experience, register for your virtual seat today and have access to the on-demand videos and interactive live-streams that you would like to take part in during the 25th annual American Indian Heritage Celebration. For a full schedule of all performances and presentations, visit NC-AIHC.com (https://www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/aihc-2020/schedule-of-events).

In order to ensure the safety of our audiences, staff, and esteemed presenters, the North Carolina Museum of History will be closed to the public on Friday, November 20.